I agree with the point which has been raised many times in this thread about seeing the written word helping with spelling - the reference to "beetle" and "beatle" being a good case in point, but which would have lost its relevance (and presumable the "Fab Four" would not have bothered with the pun) had that generation not been literate.

Some spelling errors make me chuckle ("glass bowels" instead of "glass bowls" on a wedding list - but no harm done there), others make me shudder in horror at the low level of accuracy which is becoming accepted by people whose very job is communication. I saw "bridal path" instead of "bridle path" on the T.V. in Britain only yesterday and find this unacceptable. The article was no doubt written with only the help of a spellchecker instead of a dictionary, but why didn't the writer already know the difference between "bridal" and "bridle"? If you are going to aspire to be a writer, surely you should learn your art. People in other jobs have to.

I've noticed a creeping decline also in understanding how the language is constructed at all: "should of" instead of "should have" has cropped up in more than one (supposedly well written) book I have recently and I can only conclude that the publishers see it as acceptable. The publishers!! For heaven's sake. These are the people who have our literacy in their hands at the end of the day. If they are content with this, then the messages throughout this thread to read more will not help at all.